Game ON!
by ShadyHoe614
Summary: Lance likes Keith, and is too embarrassed to tell him. Keith likes Lance, and doesn't know if he likes him back. Everyone else in the castle is either clueless, or frustrated with these two idiots. (One-Shots, Drabbles, pretty much whatever in here!)
1. Chapter 1: Home

Chapter 1: Home

Silence filled the Lion Castle lounge, tensions running high. Hunk, Keith, and Lance watched as Pidge made her final decision. Staring at the board in front of her, eyebrows knit in concentration, she studied her options. At this point in time, the game balanced on the edge of a knife; either opponent could win. Pidge was struggling to find an answer when a smile spread its way across her face. Positioning her pieces, she grinned at Lance and finally made her move. A quick flick of her wrist, and it was over.

Laughter exploded from Keith as he watched Lance's stunned expression, turning into confusion and frustration. Pidge had destroyed all of his remaining game pieces in one move, and Lance couldn't figure out how. The game flashed a message proclaiming " **GREEN TEAM WINS** " as Lance screeched, staring at the board, trying to figure out how in the name of _hell_ she had won.

It had all started when Pidge found an old Altean game of battle strategy, similar to Risk. It had taken them a while to grasp how to operate the game, and what the new rules were, but after a couple rounds it was obvious that Pidge was extremely good at it.

Lance had done well too, and soon enough he challenged Pidge to a round, stating he was so good he could beat her with his eyes closed. Pidge, never one to back down, set a price for victory: whoever lost had to go make the other a milkshake. The game had taken hours, but Pidge had finally won the game, along with her milkshake.

"Oh come ON! She's cheating!" Lance pouted as the fact sunk in that he had lost. Turning around, he looked at Hunk for support. "Help me out here Hunk, you know she's cheating too!"

Piping up from the couch on the other side of the lounge, Keith smirked. "You know she's not cheating, she's just better at it than you." Pidge grinned back at him and gave Keith a thumbs up, along with a sly wink. Of course Keith had seen her cheat, but he wasn't going to tell. Pidge glanced back at Lance and smiled as innocently as she possibly could. "Yeah Lance, that's right!"

Hunk put his hands up in defense. "I didn't see it, so I'm not going to call anything," he said. "Sorry, buddy."

Defeated, Lance groaned and stood up. "It's unreal! There's no way she's this good already. We barely learned the rules today!" The other Paladins watched in amusement as he paced the floor, hands sliding down his face.

"Stop being a sore loser!" Pidge laughed. "I won, so go make me a milkshake."

"Fine. FINE. I can see I'm not wanted here." Sticking his nose in the air, he turned around confidently and sauntered towards the doorway…. And walked straight into the wall. As everyone desperately tried to stifle their smiles and snickers, Lance whirled around.

"Think that's funny?!" He demanded, glaring at the offending parties. But as the laughter continued, Lance slowly started to smile. "Alright, I guess it was funny… But seriously, I'm headed out now." As he finally left, Lance got an idea. Turning around one more, he grinned and remarked, "By the way, one of you guys should play Pidge. After a while, you'll be convinced she's cheating too."

With Lance gone, Pidge looked around the room for a new opponent. "Keith, you up for a round? Hunk, what about you?" As the two Paladins vigorously shook their heads no, she sighed. Was there no one else she could play?

Suddenly the door slid open, and Shiro walked in. "What are you guys up to?" he asked. Hunk and Keith watched in amused horror as a grin spread its way across Pidge's face.

"Hey Shiro," she sang, "wanna play a game?"

...

Whistling as he walked down the hallways, Lance made his way to where Kaltenecker, their cow, lived. Memories of the rather eventful day trip to the mall filled his mind, a smile settling its way onto his face. The trip had ended spectacularly bad, being chased by a mall cop and crashing into a wall, but they had gotten both the Telladuv crystals they needed to repair the castle, and the video game console that Pidge had rewired to work with the castle. The store they had purchased the console from included the cow as a gift.

Lance laughed softly as he remembered the looks of confusion from everyone but Pidge when he walked onto the deck with Kaltenecker, but the cow had been accepted, and was staying in the hologram room where King Alfors memories were once stored.

Stepping into the room, Lance relaxed, the artificial "sun" beating down on his skin, and the wind softly tugging at his hair. Getting milk never felt like a chore when he was here. Lance sighed, the scent of flowers calming his mind. _Well, it's not like Pidge needs her milkshake right now…_ he thought to himself, laying back in the "grass".

The hologram shifted around him, providing the feeling of grass under his body. Lance played with the blades of green as his thoughts wandered. Something about being here calmed him, yet at the same time made him feel lonely. It reminded him of something that he had _left_ , but he couldn't think of-

Home.

That's what this reminded him of.

Lance sat up, shock racing through him. How could he **_forget_**? His siblings laughter floating on the breeze as they chased each other around. His mama, calling out that it was time for dinner. Birthday parties, Christmas, reunions, all of it spun through his head as Lance stared at the hologram around him.

Home. _This is what it had looked like_ , he mused. Lance hadn't thought about his home in so long, he was forgetting; the picture of his house fading from his memory. But why had it faded?

A thought, slowly, steadily made its way into his mind, a bright light in the dark. _He wasn't lonely because he had never left home. He just found another one._

Lance smiled softly, thinking about it. The castle had become a home for him, a place of shelter and safety. His teammates, a family that, though at times dysfunctional, was always full of love and support. Allura, Coran, and Shiro guiding and watching out for him. Hunk and Pidge, teasing him and playing pranks with him. Lance smiled, reliving some of their best pranks, including turning Corans mustache green, and hacking the training floor to spray anyone who walked in with food goo. Awww man, when Keith fell for that one-

Lance's face turned beet red. Keith. Keith with his stupid mullet, and his stupid jacket, and his stupid smile. His smile that made Lance's heart beat quicker, and his mullet that looked ridiculously soft, and his everything that made Lance want to hold him close and never let go.

He shook his head. No way. Keith wasn't interested in Lance. Or anyone, for that matter.

Lance laid back, staring into the blue "sky". Memories about the day he first met Keith sprung forward, about the instant crush he had tried desperately to disguise. About how his heart broke when Keith had disappeared. How whenever Lance thought about him, his face grew red. How happy he had been when he finally saw Keith again.

Smiling, Lance closed his eyes. Maybe someday he'd tell Keith how he felt. Maybe he'd hold his hand, and kiss him softly. _For now, though, it'll just have to stay a dream_ , Lance thought as he drifted off.

(Thank you for reading! I'll put up more chapters within the next three weeks, cuz by then I'll be out of school.)


	2. Chapter 2: Balm

_Left, right, parry._ _Duck, left, forward-waitno back back back._

Keith, sweat dripping, chest heaving, studied the droid as it moved closer to him, twirling a long staff. Darting forward, he brought his sword down over it's head. Blocked.

 _Again,_ Keith thinks to himself as he pushes forward, blade a flash of silver surrounding him. The gleaming eye of the droid stares  
him down as it bats away attempt after attempt. _C'mon, move Keith._ He charges in, faster, faster, faster. _Don't let up._

The droid suddenly lunges forward, staff shooting up to knock Keith's sword out of his hands _._ Keith turns, reaching for his sword when a heavy impact to his back  
sends him flying. Hitting the ground harshly, Keith lets out a grunt of pain before turning to face his assailant. The droid lowers it's leg before stalking slowly over  
to Keith, the single eye glowing menacingly.

 _Shit._ Keith scrambles across the floor before grabbing his sword. Standing on shaky legs, Keith glares right back at the droid as it descends upon him.

Blows rain down from every direction, forcing Keith to give ground inch by inch. Suddenly Keith stomps his foot roughly onto the ground and snarls.

"I'm not losing another inch to you!" He yells, and charges in.

 _Slash, step left, right, forward thrust, parry, left back overhead block shovekickstabslashpushleftstepbackmovemovemove-_

 ** _CLANG!_ **Metal sword meets metal body as Keith's blow finally connects, severing the droid in two.

" _Level 63: Cleared._ " Keith drops his sword and rolls his head backwards. 63? Hadn't he started at 37? Had he really been in here that long?

Dropping to his knees, Keith struggles to catch his breath as his body shakes from overexertion. "Maybe... training for hours... wasn't such... a great idea..." he puffs out, before flopping onto his back.

Resting his head on his arms, Keith shuts his eyes and sucks in a deep breath.

"Wow, you really know how to stink a place up. Seriously Keith, I could smell your B.O. down the hall," a voice calls out as the doors swish open.

Keith sits up and shoots a glare at Lance. "I don't have time to listen to your stupi-kgfisihrfkskhih!" A cool towel slaps Keith hard in the face.

"I brought you stuff," Lance states, walking over and sitting next to Keith. Keith pulls the towel of his face before looking over to Lances lap. A closer look reveals Lance carrying a water bottle, more towels, something close to a granola bar that Hunk had whipped up and... balm?

"What's this?" Keith asks, reaching over to pick up the small jar to inspect it. Suddenly, a sharp pain shoots from his lower back, racing through his body. "Gah!" Keith hisses out, hunching into himself to try and soothe the pain.

Lance shakes his head and softly smiles. "It's for you," he sighs before twisting open the jar. A sharp minty scent fills the area around them while Lance moves closer to Keith. "It's a soothing balm, for bruises and stuff. It also helps wounds heal faster."

Moving behind Keith, Lance leans forward. "I don't think you'll be able to reach your back yourself. Will you pull off your shirt so I can help you?"

At this moment, Keith has never been more glad that Lance can't see his face as a deep blush flashes across Keith's face.

"Y-yeah, sure," Keith stutters, pulling his shirt up and over his shoulders. Wadding up his shirt, Keith uses it to dab sweat off  
his face.

At this moment, Lance has never been more glad that Keith can't see his face. _When did Keith get so ripped?!_ Lance thinks to himself, marveling at  
the smooth, strong muscles on Keith's back. Clearing his throat, Lance dips his fingers into the jar, scooping out a large amount of light green salve, before  
generously applying it to the growing bruise on Keith's back.

"Oh my god," Keith groans out, visibly relaxing as the numbing coolness of the salve spreads across his back. "Where did you find this stuff?"

Lance smirks. "Glad it's working. And I didn't find it, I made it. On the last planet we visited, Hunk, Allura and I went out to explore the flora and fauna.  
When we found a large field of really spiky looking bushes, Allura got really excited, saying stuff about how this plant is rare and  
has incredible medicinal value. So we grabbed a few and planted them in pots to keep on the castle. Hunk and I thought we might as well try to make some  
salve for the team, and voilà!"

Keith turns to look at Lance. "You made this? Really?"

"You don't believe me?" Lance laughs, holding his hand over his heart and feigning hurt. "I'm shocked. I can do more than shoot things and tell jokes, you know!"

Slowly, a gentle smile works it's way onto Keith's face as he gazes at Lance. "I know," he murmurs softly, before quickly turning around and grabbing the water bottle.

As the scent of the balm curls around the both of them, Keith blushes. _He really does just get better and better every day,_ Keith thinks, bringing the water bottle to  
his lips and taking a swig.

"Thanks Lance."

"...Yeah, no problem."

* * *

(I'M SO SO SO SO SO SORRY IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO UPDATE THIS! I have no excuse, I just kept putting it off... Hope you guys like this chapter! Hopefully I  
can update a lot now, since I got a new laptop! See you guys soon, and don't forget to tell me what you think! Constructive criticism is appreciated!)


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